Entrance ban, job discrimination, criminal proceedings may be exercised against theCrimean Tatars who travel to Ankara to join the event

“Currently, some warnings and intimidation still are taking place,” said Deputy Head of Majlis Nariman Dzhelial in his interview with Krymr. He adds that it is difficult to say whether those who would like to participate in the congress, will be able to leave the peninsula. Intelligence services have already talked to the members of the Majlis, saying that someone may not come from the congress, someone may have problems with their business or work, and some may face the criminal proceedings, accusing of extremism.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest against the artificial barriers to the participation of the Crimean Tatar people in the Second World Congress of Crimean Tatars. “Russian authorities exert political pressure on Congress delegates who live in the Crimea, creating an atmosphere of repression and injustice and trying to prevent their departure from Crimean peninsula to join the event,” as stated by MFA in the official statement on the site.

July 31 - August 2 in Ankara II World Congress of Crimean will gather more than 700 delegates from the Crimean Tatar national organizations. President of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page that Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, USA, Romania, Turkey, France and other European countries will participate in the event. He announced about nearly 200 Crimean Tatar NGOs are to join the Congress. See also: Group of Italian MPs are to visit annexed Crimea this autumnAccording to Monitoring Group of minority rights, Crimean Tatars are the most vulnerable target of xenophobia in Ukraine.